Suspenders



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

A. M. FREEMAN & 'J. B. OVERMEYER.

SUSPEN-DBRS.

Patented Feb. 1'7, 1885..- A

(N0 ModeL) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

A. M. FREEMAN 82: J. B. vOVERMEYER.

SUSPBNDERS. No. 312,264. Patented Feb. 17, 1885.

-TUNITED STATES ATENT rrrcn.

ALVA M. FREEMAN AND JOHN B. OVERMEYER, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

SUSPENDERS.

.BPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 312,264, dated February 17, 1885.

Application filed March 24, 1884. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that we, ALVA M. FREEMAN and JoHN B. OVERMEYER, both citizens of the United States, and residing in Chicago, county of Cook, and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Suspenders, of which the following is a specification.

This application for Letters Patent is designed to cover certain improvements in suspenders, shown but not claimed in an application of even date herewith filed by us in the United States Patent Office.

The object of our said improvements in suspenders is to simplify and lessen the cost of the manufacture of the front and back attachment-s. from which the front and rear pantaloon-straps of a suspender are suspended, and also to adapt the same to be connected with the said straps in a more efficient manner than heretofore. These objects we attain by means of the back and front attachment-s formed and adapted to be connected with the back and frontstrapsas hereinafter described, and illustrated in the annexed drawings, in which- Figure 1 represents a face view of our improved back attachment for a suspender with the web and rear pantaloon-strap connected therewith and broken away at points beyond the attachment. Fig. 2 is a face view of the said attachment disconnected from the web and strap. Fig. 3 represents a face view of the front attachment for the front panta'loonstrap, and illustrates the binding-plate embodying our improvement, the web and strap being shown connected with said attachment,

, but broken away at points beyond the same.

Fig. 4 represents a vertical central section taken through the front attachment shown in Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the front attachment on an enlarged scale.

Referring by letter to the several figures of the drawings, in which like letters denote like parts, A indicates the web or body portion of the suspender, preferably made in one piece from end to end, and designed to pass over the shoulders of the wearer.

B designates the back attachment, from which the rear pantaloonstraps, C, are suspended, and D refers to the front attachment provided for the front pantaloon-straps, D, and adapted to be adjusted upon the web for the purpose of lengthening or shortening the suspender. The back attachment consists of a plate adapted at or near one end portion to be connected with the web of the suspender, and ator near its opposite endportion adapted to connect with the rear pantaloon-strap. In order to connect this plate with the web, it is provided with two upwardly-diverging slots, E, through which the web passes, and is carried across a portion of the rear side of the plate, after which the web is disposed,so as to cross itself upon the front face of the plate. The plate is also provided with a pair of lower slots, G, arranged at a point below the slots formed for the web. These lower slots diverge downwardly, and are adapted to admit of the pantaloon-strap being drawn through them, so as to pass across the rear face of the plate between said slots, said strap being also crossed upon itself on the outer face of the plate in the same way as the web just described. As this plate, which thus forms a complete back attachment, is made in one piece, it can be readily and economically stamped out from sheet metal,and will form a light and efficient back attachment for the suspender. The plate thus forming a back attachment can be provided at one or both ends with the construction of loop H illustrated in our said application, and formed by bending a transversely-slotted end portion of the plate out from the plane of the latter. Obviously other forms of loop could be provided; but we prefer the construction herein shown. The plate is contracted at its middle portion, and has the general configuration of a double triangle, or two triangles united at their apices, the lower triangular portion being,preferably, the smaller of the two, as shown. The inclination of the slots thus arranged in pairs and converging toward the middle of the plate admits of this double triangular conformation of the latter, whereby considerable metal is saved and a light and comparatively inexpensive back attachment produced. It will also be seen that the slots run parallel with the nearest edges of the plate, and hence a neat and symmetrical appearance is given to the attachment. The front attachment for the front strap comprises a sleeve, I, arranged to slide upon the web, and a practically wedge-shaped binding-plate, K, from which the front pantaloon-strap is suspended. The

binding-plate is drawn downwardly, so as to cause it to wedge in the sleeve between the latter and the web in order to hold the sleeve in its adjustment upon the web, and in place of suspending from the binding-plate a device with which the front strap is connected,

we connectthe said strap directly with a lower extension formed or rigid with the bindingplate; hence, in forming the binding-plate the part with which the strap is to be connected and the wedge portion of said plate which enters the sleeve can be stamped out together and in one piece. This extension K of the binding-plate is provided with a pair of downwardly-diverging slots, similar to the slots formed in the lower end of the back attachment, and it is preferably made triangular, or substantially triangular, in outline, whereby its side edges shall be respectively parallel with the nearest slots. This extension of the binding-plate is also preferably provided with some sort of a loop, L, under which the web passes, the preferred construction of loop being that shown in connection with the back attachment. The front strapis attached to this extension of the binding-plate and crosses itself thereon in the same manner as that in which the back strap is disposed. The wedge portion of the binding-plate can be conveniently constructed, as set forth in our said other application, and, owing to its arrangement, will not require teeth for causing it to engage the web. In conclusion, we will observe that in regard to the back attachment herein shown the arrangement of the slots E and G, formed through the plate in pairs, with the slots of each pair converging toward the middle or approximately the middle of the plate, provides a means whereby the web and strap can be drawn through the attachment and crossed on the front thereof in a desirable manner, and thereby allows the ends of the strap to have the required divergence from each other, so as to bring its terminals into 5 proper'position for engaging the buttons at the rear of the pantaloon, and also admits of the two portions of the web diverging upwardly from the attachment, so as to bring the web into proper position for passing over the shoulders of the wearer without being twisted or otherwise turned and rendered uncomfortable to the body. The slots of the back attachment preserve at all times a fixed relation to each other, and the attachment is at all times held in place upon the suspender without the aid of stitches, rivets,'or other like fastening devices, it being seen that the web and the strap are both held in connection with the plate by being drawn through the side slots thereof, so as to cross the back portions ofthe plate between its slots, and that the web and strap,

crossing themselves at the front of the attachment, are retained in such crossed position by 'said middle portion will evidently come between the rear side of the attachment and the body of the wearer, and hence keep the edges of the plate sufficiently off from thebody of the wearer to prevent such inconvenience as might otherwise result from the contact of said edges with the person wearing the suspender. These observations will obviously for the greater part apply to the front attachment herein shown.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim is 1. The back attachment for the rear strap of a suspender, consisting of a plate constructed with a loop at one or both of its ends and provided with two pairs of slots converging toward the middle portion of the plate, sub stantially as described, and arranged to form strap-passages, which admit of the shoulder and pantaloon straps crossing themselves after passing-through a single plate common to both straps, and diverging in opposite directions from the ends of the same plate, substantially as set forth.

2. The back attachment for the rear strap of a suspender, consisting of the herein-described double triangular plate contracted at its middle and provided with two pairs of 9 5 slots converging toward the said contracted middle portion of the plate, said slots being arranged to form strap-passages for the shoulder and pantaloon straps, and to admit of the said straps crossing themselves, substantially as described.

3. A back attachment for the rear strap of a suspender, consisting of a plate provided with two pairs of slots converging toward the middle of theplate, and having at one or both ends a loop, substantially as and for the purpose described.

4. The combination, in a suspender, of a sleeve adapted to slide upon the web with a binding-plate adapted to hold the sleeve in its r 10 adjustment and made in one piece with the lower slotted extension with which the front pantaloon-strap is connected, substantially as described.

5. The combination, in a suspender, of a I 15 sleeve adapted to slide upon the web with the binding-plate adapted to hold the sleeve in its adjustment and formed with the lower extension, which is provided with a pair of upwardly-converging slots, substantially as described.

ALVA M. FREEMAN. JNO. B. OVERMEYER. Witnesses:

W. W. ELLIo'r'r, CHAS. G. PAGE. 

